Star Trek: Discovery Keeps on Riffing, as Shadows Loom

Star Trek: Discovery has been somewhat emotionally all over in its most up-to-date season—greater than regular, because it’s pushed and pulled its put-upon Starfleet heroes from one disaster to the following, whereas additionally sometimes stopping to allow them to vent their pent-up emotions. But this week was totally different. This week, for essentially the most half, the crew simply obtained to have some enjoyable.

Until they didn’t, after all.

“The Examples” follows within the footsteps of the sorts of tales we’ve had up to now this season—tales which are linked to the broader season-long risk of the Dark Matter Anomaly, however not totally about it. This week was extra linked than most: the first plot follows the Discovery on a rescue mission to a colony world about to be within the path of the DMA, and its secondary sees a confounded Stamets pressured to group up with an irascible Risian scientist, Ruon Tarka (Shawn Doyle), to make course of on exploring the true origins of the anomaly. Save for some late-game revelations—extra on these later—each of those plots aren’t actually in regards to the DMA nonetheless, and are as a substitute as soon as once more an opportunity for Discovery to capably show that it could riff on some classically Star Trek episode premises. And it does so, for essentially the most half, fairly acceptably.

The important plot sees Burnham and Book beam right down to the Akaali colony (a enjoyable throwback itself to a species launched in Enterprise) to start evacuating civilians—just for them to find six lifeforms who haven’t responded to Starfleet hails to relocate to evacuation factors. It seems these six are the titular Examples: the one indefinite prisoners within the colony’s justice system who’ve been left locked up for his or her lives, irrespective of how insignificant their crime is, to set a harsh (and, we’re informed, efficient) instance to the opposite colonists about crime and punishment. Naturally, Burnham and Book can’t stand by and depart these folks to die a horrifying demise if the DMA crosses the colony’s path, and we’re off to the races. Star Trek simply completely loves itself an alien justice system it could instantly intrude in, and Discovery even throws in some enjoyable banter, bizarre exploding beetle mines, and an moral dilemma sob story for good measure, when Burnham discovers one of many prisoners she’s about to supply political asylum to is definitely a assassin.

As enjoyable and classically Trek as that is, it’s not with out its issues. Discovery has been, in matches and begins, a present that has been fascinated with, however hardly ever fairly so prepared to query, the character of what Starfleet ought to be in its contradictory existence as a exploratory peacekeeping taskforce. So simply having Michael act like so many Trek heroes earlier than her and bludgeon her means by way of the ethics of the Akaali justice system with none self-reflection on that—and for her to be framed as a kickass hero for doing so—simply feels somewhat bizarre, and pushes us to the boundaries of what occurs when a up to date present like Discovery simply tries its hand at riffing on premises which have labored for Star Trek prior to now. There’s nothing actually new Discovery has to say about this format, and ultimately, any moral quandary Michael may really feel for her actions—whether or not or not she is prepared to grant asylum to a killer to protest the inequality of the Akaali’s penal system—is taken out of her arms when the prisoner chooses to remain behind as one thing of a martyr, perishing as the only sufferer of the colony’s destruction by the DMA. All that’s left is Discovery’s penchant for overwrought emotion, as a tearful Michael is left sitting on the bridge whereas the prisoner clunkily plot dumps his backstory ready for his oblivion. No actual classes realized, no concepts challenged, within the second is ok, and as we stated, enjoyable—exploding beetle mines!—however after just a few episodes of Discovery going again and doing these riffs, it begins to really feel somewhat empty.

What doesn’t, for good and ailing, is the aspect plot with Stamets and Tarka. Tarka himself is likewise ripped from the massive e book of Star Trek story tropes: the asshole visitor scientist who comes aboard the ship and bristles with our personal scientists. This is made extra attention-grabbing, momentarily, in the truth that Stamets is—regardless of loads of softening over the past 4 years—nonetheless somewhat little bit of an asshole himself, making for some enjoyable interactions between himself and Tarka as he slowly picks up that, for all the person annoys him together with his genius and overconfidence, they’re rather more like one another than he initially wished to confess. It’s a pleasant “lesson” for Stamets to have, at the same time as Discovery has gone nice lengths to maneuver him away from his authentic prickly self through the years by increasing upon his relationship with Dr. Culber, or giving him a father-figure function with Adira. Watching him replicate on who he’s grow to be over the past 4 years (or a number of thousand, give or take a little bit of time leaping in season two) is way extra genuinely touching that the melodrama of Michael’s connection to the Akaali prisoner within the A-plot, and a still-rare instance of Discovery doing a little nice character constructing with somebody who isn’t Michael herself.

However, the place “The Examples” strikes away from its empty however satisfying enjoyable and into one thing rather more critical and messy can also be on this arc, as Stamets and Tarka make a fairly main discovery in regards to the DMA. It is just not, as they’d beforehand theorized, a pure catastrophe on an intergalactic scale. Their checks collectively affirm that not solely is it artificially made, however being managed by an unknown, impossibly superior being or civilization who’s instantly manipulating the place the DMA strikes to, uncaring for the destruction left it its wake. It’s a twist to make sure, and one made all of the extra twistier when the episode ends with an all-the-subtlety-of-a-brick reveal that Tarka himself may not simply be as much as no good in worming his means onto Discovery, however seemingly is aware of rather more in regards to the true origins of the DMA and who’s behind it than he’s letting on. But it’s additionally laborious to not really feel somewhat disenchanted that Discovery finds itself as soon as once more confronting a private, focused risk as the massive unhealthy of the season with this reveal.

From the Klingons to Control, and Osyraa and the Emerald Chain final season, Discovery has executed lots with the concept of a robust power or character that has it out for the Federation. Part of what made the DMA so attention-grabbing on a conceptual degree was that it’s this pure catastrophe—you possibly can’t motive with a gravitational power that simply floats by way of area flinging stations and colonies round and wrenching planets aside, you possibly can’t combat it in a starship or with a phaser. A pure catastrophe’s not a “good versus bad” plot, however one which has up to now let the present this season be in regards to the types of issues we wish to see Starfleet heroes doing—catastrophe reduction, scientific exploration, delivering hope. Discovery has loads of time left this season to maintain doing that, because it has on this first half, however that we now seemingly are heading in the direction of one more of these mysterious villain premises that we’ve seen the present do time and again, it’s laborious to say simply how for much longer we’ll get to see that attention-grabbing aspect of Discovery earlier than it’s again to the identical narrative threads it has tugged on earlier than.

Wondering the place our RSS feed went? You can choose the brand new up one right here.